William J. Byrnes

Cincinnati, Ohio

Inducted as a Fellow: 1993

Your earliest memories of the Institute?

My first encounter with USITT was the Anaheim Conference in 1975. I went to the conference to interview possible hires for an Assistant TD position I was trying to fill. Before that conference I did not know there was an organization made up of people who spoke the same language I did. I found a network of colleagues and friends and have been a member ever since.

Favorite USITT memory?

One of my favorite memories, among many, was driving Eddie Kook and his wife from the hotel to the airport when I was chairing the Cleveland Conference in 1981. He and his wife were in a hot competition with each other to see who could back-seat drive the best. It was like something out of a Seinfeld episode.

Short list of career highlights:

I was fortunate to find an early career as a TD and lighting designer that was an outcome of my undergraduate employment as a stage hand in a campus performing arts center. That work-study job allowed me to meet and work with hundreds of professionals in every aspect of the performing and visual arts over a four-year period. That job experience led to working at Santa Fe opera and then on to graduate school at UCLA, which in turn led to a career that included working on over 150 productions. As I grew to understand more about how the whole production process and entertainment industry worked, my career opportunities expanded to production management and producing. Those opportunities, coupled with my teaching, later morphed into a career track in theatre and arts management. The arts management part of my career has enabled me to lecture and present in Japan, China, Singapore, and in several countries in Europe.

Short list of your involvement in the Institute:

USITT Board of Directors 1980-83

Chair 1981 Cleveland Conference

Member, officer, and newsletter editor for the the Ohio Section of USITT from 1978 to 1994

USITT Board member and Officer VP for Marketing and Membership 1985-2000

USITT President-elect, President, and then Past-President 2000-2004

Member of USITT Finance Committee 2005-2009 and member of the Management Commission for many years

Chair of USITT 21st Century Task Force 2007-2009

Member of USITT Executive Director Search Committee 2009-10

If you were to make a short list of the memorable USITT characters that have made a difference to you, who would they be?

Steven Hild was the one of the key drivers for the initial design exhibits at the USITT Conferences more than three decades ago. He was passionate about this project and he showed me how one member could make a difference. Today we just assume design exhibits are a part of the USITT Conference experience. Steve’s dedication to this project back to the late 70s and early 80s paved the way for the numerous design exhibits we have on the Stage Expo floor today.

Henry Tharpe was an inspiration for his unflappable get-it-done drive at the 1980 Conference in Overland Park Kansas. It was a conference that was a USITT “tipping point” and it set the stage for ever larger and more complex conferences in the years after.

Sarah Nash Gates, Chris Kaiser, and “Gino” Montgomery were inspiring women leaders in USITT. They impressed the hell out of me with their endless energy and devotion to USITT, and especially their devotion to its financial solvency. Being on the Finance Committee with them helped me understand how important it was to connect the mission and planning to budget. We have them to thank for the current fiscal health of USITT.

Dr. Joel Rubin and Leon Brauner opened my eyes to the fantastic possibilities of being part of the International Activities of USITT. Thank you.

There are many more memorable “characters,” but that’s a good start.

Anything you want to say about being a Fellow?

You could have knocked me over with a feather when I was inducted into the Fellows. It was such an honor to be among a group of people who helped shape (and continue to shape) the entertainment industry and who deeply embedded theatre and theatre design and technology into American universities and colleges after WWII. I am especially proud of the Fellows for ramping up their current engagement with a wide range of activities in USITT and for re-affirming their commitment to mentoring the future leaders in our profession.

Anything you'd like to add about what the USITT means to you personally?

I can safely say USITT has been integral to my professional development as a theatre practitioner, educator, designer, manager and leader. USITT has been my “learning laboratory,” so to speak. There was so much to learn after graduate school. I don’t know what I would have done if it weren’t for USITT. As I look back on it, USITT was my continuing education program. My transformation from being a “techie” working on load-ins and in the scene shop to being a TD, Stage Manager, Production Manager, Department Chair, Program Director, Associate Dean, Dean, and now Associate Provost was made possible by my work with USITT.

Publications:

Management and the Arts is in its 5th edition and I contributed to Arts Leadership: International Case Studies,"The Utah Shakespeare Festival: An evolving arts leadership partnership." I also served as editor of the Inside USITT section of TD&Dfor a number of years.

Must have books in the arts management field (beside my own, of course) include:

Managing by Henry Mintzberg

The Time Paradox by Philip Zimbardo and John Boyd

The Essential Drucker, by Peter F. Drucker

Good to Great by Jim Collins

The Black Swan, 2nd ed, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink

The 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch

How to Run a Theatre by Jim Volz

Mentoring?

I am more than happy to help students with developing their personal marketing development including resumes, e-portfolios, cover letters, interview do and don’ts, etc.